Safe Passage

Bolivia’s North Yungas Road
is a hazardous route for workers who travel in the region.

For mountain bikers and excitement junkies, the
journey between the city of La Paz, Bolivia, and the Amazonian Basin is an
opportunity for an adrenalin-pumping adventure. And rightly so. The road
between these regions stuns travelers not only with its beautiful Andean
mountain views but also with its deadliness.

Once classified as the world’s most dangerous road, it is estimated that the
steep and narrow North Yungas Road--dubbed El Camino de la Muerte, or The Road of Death--claimed 200 to 300 lives each year before an
improvement project was completed in 2006. Some parts of the road were enlarged
and paved, and a new section was constructed between Chusquipata and Yolosa,
which allows travelers to bypass one of the most-dangerous portions of the old
route. But despite the improvements, plenty of hazardous conditions still exist
along the winding mountain road, including single-lane widths of 10 feet or
less that accommodate two-way traffic, sheer dropoffs and a curious lack of
guard rails. As if that weren’t enough, fog, rain and dust decrease visibility
to make the drive even more precarious.

ReportNet
uses Google Earth to display locations of vehicles. The platform allows users
to overlay their own custom maps.

North
Yungas Road is a regular business route for Geofisica
Geokinetics Bolivia,
a unit of Texas-based geophysical services company Geokinetics. So it is no
surprise that the safety of the company’s drivers, as well as its fleet of
pickup trucks, ambulances and buses, is a chief concern.

To track and monitor vehicle movement, the company at one time relied on data
loggers that recorded and stored general vehicle information like driver
identification, vehicle speed, hard braking and distance traveled. However, the
data logging system had many limitations. Since the information was stored in
the vehicle, it had to be retrieved manually. Downloading historical
information from the data logger could only be done using a portable laptop.
Consequently, vehicle usage information was only reviewed once a week or
whenever it was possible. In addition, since there was no GPS location
information, there was no historical record of the driving routes used and
whether the drivers were following the posted speed limits.

However, the biggest flaw with the data logging system was the inability to
locate the driver in an emergency, according to Pedro Linares, operations
assistant for the the company’s transportation department. “We needed a system
that would allow us to quickly locate vehicles and drivers so that in the event
of an accident, we would know exactly where to send the rescue team,” Linares says.

Users can create geofences around specific
areas of interest and be notified when vehicles enter and exit these areas.

Flexible
Real-Time Tracking

The limitations of the data logging system along with the crucial need to track
vehicles and drivers in real time forced Geofisica Geokinetics Bolivia to
search for an alternate solution. The firm required a system that could operate
in remote regions where cellular communication is not available, but it also
wanted to be able to take advantage of cellular connectivity to send more
information when the vehicle was within reach of urban communication networks.
Additionally, the system had to provide a way to accurately monitor driver
performance and poll the location of the vehicle anytime.

Based on these requirements, the geophysical services firm selected a system
offered by Monnet, based in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. The system included a SureLinx
8100, a dual-mode satellite/cellular tracking device provided by Canadian
SkyWave Mobile Communications, along with Monnet’s ReportNet Web-based tracking
and monitoring software.

The device allows Geofisica Geokinetics Bolivia to track the location of its
vehicles every two minutes when fieldworkers have cellular connectivity and the
vehicle is in motion. If the vehicle is stationary, location information is
sent every five minutes.

Vehicles
navigate a treacherous ridge along North Yungas Road.

When
the vehicles are in remote regions where cellular networks are not available,
the system logs location information into its internal memory every five
minutes when the vehicle is in motion and every 30 minutes when stationary.
Every hour, the communication device sends an update on the location and speed
of the vehicle through Inmarsat’s satellite network to Monnet’s ReportNet. Data
stored within the SureLinx memory are sent by general packet radio service
(GPRS) once the vehicle re-enters an area with cellular coverage or are downloaded
manually using a laptop computer.

Since the communication terminal is configurable even when the units are
deployed in the field, Geofisica Geokinetics Bolivia can change the reporting
frequency anytime. The company can also poll the current location of any of its
vehicles whenever the need arises for logistics or safety reasons.

The satellite/cellular system also allowed Geofisica Geokinetics Bolivia
to implement some additional changes that were not possible with the original
data logger. “A radio frequency identification (RFID) reader was installed in
each vehicle,” says Clover Andrade, a manager at Monnet. “Every driver is
required to scan [his or her] driver identification card prior to operating a
vehicle. Without valid driver identification, the engine remains locked and
will not operate.”

Since
the system uses satellite tracking, there are virtually
no remote regions where the user cannot pinpoint the exact location of a
vehicle as well as determine the direction in
which it is traveling.

Improved
Safety

Using electronic geofences (defined geographic boundaries), Monnet engineers
also configured the SureLinx communication terminals to record speeding
incidents by regions, hard-braking incidents and speed information in the 50
seconds prior to the braking incident.

To assist drivers with safe driving, buzzers were installed inside the
vehicles. “Every time the driver exceeds the speed limit or any other driving
violation, the event is logged in the memory of the device and an auditory
warning is given,” Andrade says. “This helps remind drivers to pay close
attention to their driving practices.”

ReportNet automatically generates driver reports, which include a driver
performance index. The index is a measure of the number of violations recorded
by SureLinx and takes into account the severity of the violation. The index
allows the geophysical company to identify the drivers that need the most
training. “Not only are we able to coach drivers into better driving
practices,” Linares says, “we have the added benefit of being able to recognize
drivers who are exhibiting good driving behavior.”

In the event of an accident, panic buttons installed in each vehicle can be
pressed to send an emergency message to ReportNet, which, in turn, e-mails all
appropriate health and safety personnel that an incident has occured. “We
immediately know when a vehicle is involved in an accident and where to send
the rescue team,” Linares
says. “The system has improved our chances of saving the driver’s life and
retrieving the vehicle quickly.”

In addition to improved safety, Geofisica Geokinetics Bolivia’s
operating expenses have gone down. According to Linares, since the drivers are using the
vehicles more carefully, the company has seen a reduction in maintenance costs
for its fleets.

As Geofisica Geokinetics Bolivia expands its operations into other remote
regions, the real-time vehicle tracking system keeps the company, its employees
and its fleet on a more-secure path. “By ensuring that drivers are operating
their vehicles correctly,” Linares
says, “we can reduce the number of accidents and increase the safety of our
drivers.”